Easter Weekend- Saturday

We enjoyed a fun-filled Easter weekend!! On Saturday, we went to my sister's house for an Easter egg hunt with her cousins. This is the first year that Sarah was able to walk to find eggs.  Last year, she was only 10 months old and didn't even know how to walk yet! What a difference a year makes. The weather couldn't be more beautiful in the City. 

Cousins carefully dying the eggs

Sarah got so excited over the bubble machine

Eating ready to start for the egg hunt!

Sarah found 4 eggs! Yay!

After the Easter Egg hunt, we went to King Wah Restaurant in Daly City for dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday.  It has been a while since my sisters are all present for an event. A total of 26 people, 3 tables - we had a tasty meal! 

Bee Mine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Year of the Dragon!!

May the Year of the Dragon brings you and your family a year of Prosperity, Wealth, Joy and Happiness! Happy Chinese New Year!

CNY Eve dinners

I must shamefully admit that SQ and I barely follow any of the Chinese New Year traditions.  A quarter of the reason is that we don't know what the traditions are but majority of the reason is that we are (truthfully) just too lazy. We barely get the house tidy up, let alone deep clean.  We don't have any CNY decorations, candies or tangerines in the house.  We wash our hair on the day of and we eat meat.  I guess we are less superstitious than most Chinese.  However, during this time of the year, the CNY Eve dinners are a must.  They are equivalent to the American Thanksgiving, where everyone gathers to have a nice family dinner.

This year, my side of the family had our CNY dinner on Saturday (1/21) at my parents' house.  My mom prepared a lot of the dishes, with names symbolizing good luck and good fortune.  The sisters, BILs and kids all had a chance to talk (in most cases, scream because it was so noisy LOL), laugh and catch up on things.  Even though we see each other very often (at least once a week) and are in constant communications via FB, Twitter, or Email, there is still so much to talk about!!

The Tong Grandkids (all 13 of them!)

the Z gens (R to L): Hailey, Sarah, Tyler, Kyle, Hayden, Evan, Ethan

the Y gens (R to L): Catherine, Caitlin, Cadence, Crystal, Derek, Darryl

On Sunday (1/22), we drove up to Sacramento to SQ's brother's house for our CNY Eve dinner.  This year, the family decided to eat at a restaurant instead of cooking at home.  We went to Asian Pearl  and enjoyed a delicious feast of black chicken & herb soup, whole abalone, lobster 2 ways, quail, fish, and giant clams. All the dishes were very tasty - and must have costed quite a bit of $$! 

The Quach Grandkids (R to L) : Kenneth, Derrick, Alex, Sarah, Alyssa, Albert

Sarah doesn't get to see this side of her cousins often, but it was amazing how well she interacted with them.  She was playing with them, giggling, and laughing.  She was even willing to give them kisses! In case you're wondering, yes, Sarah is in her jammies, getting ready to hop back on the car on a long ride home!  And yes, no luck in getting all the kids to look in the camera at the same time!! 

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!!  I feel very blessed this Thanksgiving.  I am thankful:

• for the world's most supportive family, loving husband and adorable daughter!
• for my house and my bed to keep me warm at night
• for my health so I am able to do and see the things I love
• for my company because I still have a job that pays well 
• for my friends who I can always share a laugh with
• for world peace

*Sorry for the grainy picture. We were checking out the webcam.  A nice (and rare) picture with all of us smiling at the camera at the same time. 

Happy Halloween!

Busy Weekend

We are usually very low key during the weekends. We often don't leave the house until after Sarah's morning nap, dine out for lunch, do some shopping, and then head home in time for Sarah's afternoon nap.  But this weekend, we had a couple of special events, which made for a rather unusual busy weekend. 

On Saturday, we went to my friend, YW's daughter, EW's Red Egg and Ginger party in Emeryville. We had a great time, eating and catching up with kids' talk at our table.  After Sarah had her meal, she was eager to release some of her energy.  And after she had the yellow balloon in her hands, she went on a little sugar high. She walked around and around - falling down and then getting up.  She was having a lot of fun with friend CF.      

Sarah and her Yellow Balloon

Because it was time for her afternoon, we left around 2pm and Sarah quickly fell asleep in the car.  She was tired.  Since we don't go to the East Bay often, we decided to stick around the area for a little bit.  We drove to Berkeley, Telegraph Ave/College Ave area.  SQ went to school in Berkeley so he did a little reminiscencing of his college years there (which is a long time ago!)  Later we drove up to Tilden Park. I've heard about the Steam Train there, but have never been. So we decided that it would be fun to go there since the weather was beautiful.  

By the time we got there, the train was about to arrive for the next ride so we quickly woke Sarah up (she had napped about 1hr by that time already) and hopped onto the train.  It was such a beautiful ride! The weather was perfect as the train went through the forest park.  Couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day to be on the train.  Here is a picture of us as we came out of the tunnel. Sarah's expression on the picture is simply priceless. 

Daddy and Sarah pose in front of the Steam Train at Tilden Park

On Sunday (Father's Day), our family had a party at Rinconada Park in Palo Alto. We had a Hawaiian-themed party.  The Hawaiian dress that Sarah got as a gift from my sister was still too big for her, so she had to wear another dress.  She was walking on the grass but once she fell down, she didn't like using her hands to get up (the grass was too prickly).  

This park has an outdoor swimming pool, and since the temperature was in the high 80's on Sunday, it was a perfect day to introduce Sarah to the pool. She got suited up and ready to go in the water with Daddy.

Unfortunately, even though Sarah loves taking baths**, she was not happy to be in the water.  She whined and whined ~ she just didn't like being there!! So after a few minutes, we took her out.  We left the park around 5pm and Sarah finally took her afternoon nap.  Because it was so late in the day already, I woke her up after 1/2 hour so she can still sleep at night.  

** Don't know what happened... but maybe Sarah got traumatized by the pool, she is not liking her baths these few days. Every time we put her into the tub, she wants to get out.  Oh no, what happened to my bath-loving, water-splashing baby Sarah??  Hope this is only a phase!! 

Happy "Da-da" day!

Mother's Day

      On May 8, I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my sweet little baby Sarah.  We didn't do anything special in particular, but I was still super happy that day because I am Mommy to silly girl.
      Sarah, I am so proud to be your Mommy! Your presence and the endless joy you bring me is the BEST present I could ever ask for!  I have never laughed so hard and smiled so much..it's all because of you. Thank you for letting me be your Mommy! :-)

Happy Year of the Rabbit!!

Sarah wishes everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Rabbit! 

New Beginning!

Today is the start of the new year 2011 - New Years Day is always a start for a new beginning! Despite the howling wind, the freezing rain, and chilly air today, I still feel warm inside... especially when I'm at home, with my dear husband and adorable daughter!  P.S. The heater turned on at full blast helps a lot too!

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays to all!!

2010 Christmas Card

We took this picture of Sarah on our bed on a random Saturday morning.  We had our shades down, and SQ played around with the aperture of the camera to capture this shot in this lighting.  Sarah had just learned how to sit so it was a fun photo shoot.

We ordered our holiday cards through Pear Tree Greetings.  I would highly recommend this company. Not only do they provide cute quality cards, they have excellent customer service.  They have live chat help and very responsive to emails.

Xmas tree is up!

 

It has been years since we put up a Christmas tree.  When we first bought our house in 2002, we set one up.  I remember buying a fresh cut one from Home Depot. But years have gone by, and we've survived many Christmases without a tree.  The reason is we are just too lazy to go get one, decorate it, and then take it down. Plus we normally don't host any parties at our house, so there wasn't really a "need" to get one.  This year's mentality started out similar to the past.  We weren't planning to get a tree even though it would be Sarah's first Christmas.  But it turned out that Target has this tree on sale on Black Friday, for $30.  Yep, a 6' pre-lit tree for $30!  It is a great deal!  But we don't do Black Fridays.  We hate the crowds, the lines, and the madness.  Fortunately, my BIL and his friends are still into the thrills of Black Friday sales. He went and helped us buy this tree.  It is absolutely perfect!! So easy to assemble and it is just the perfect size for a little small living room.  I added extra lights on it to make it more vibrant.  I dug up my old ornaments and hung them on the tree.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find some of the other ornaments & the tree top - so that's why the tree looks kinda bare.  Oh wells. 

I am also going to find a nice Baby's 1st Christmas ornament somewhere and start a new tradition for Sarah. 

  

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am especially thankful for:

• my husband, who loves me unconditionally, and lets me be me
• my sweet little baby Sarah, who continues to brighten my day, every day 
• my parents, who always take care of me and think of me 
• my family, especially my sisters, who is always there for me, no matter what
• my friends, who are always a great company for laughs and fun 
• my health ~ so glad to live like a normal person again!
• my job ~ I am very thankful that my company kept the same job/position for me even though I took 7 months off and continued to pay me all this time!

When I feel down, I shall think of all the wonderful things and people around me. I am truly very blessed!! Thank you! Thank you for giving me what I have...

Have a great Thanksgiving!!   

Happy Halloween

Food-Filled day!

The Fourth is definitely a Food-Filled Day! SQ and I woke up late today, did some garden clean-up and went for a late lunch at the Outerlands. It is a nice, sweet little cafe in the Avenues (Judah and 45th). I always like to patronize our local eateries whenever we can. The Outerlands has an unique decor - their walls, tables, chairs, benches, and floor are all made from re-claimed wood. It not only has a very rustic feel to it, it is environmental-friendly. Since today is a holiday, the cafe served a limited menu selection. We shared a corn chowder, which was really really good. Not too heavy, filled with fresh sweet corn, potatoes and my favorite, roasted bell peppers. Yum! It was so good that the bowl was gone before I remembered to take a pic of it! We also ordered a Roasted turkey open-faced sandwich, complete with cheese and granny-smith apples. It was delicious! I would definitely come back to try some of their other dishes... Yelpers said that their Mac and Cheese is to die for!
As if we didn't already have enough food, we ended up going to Bi-Rite Creamery for their specialty ice cream. They have the best ice cream in town...yes, IMO, even better than Mitchell's. I got the Balsamic Strawberry and SQ got Toasted Coconut. Both flavors are first timers and keepers! Enjoyed the ice cream with a free show at Dolores Park.

Bi-Rite Creamery is also associated with the Bi-Rite Market on 18th & Guerrero. They are very well-known in the neighborhood, because they promote and sell only organic and locally and sustainably-raised meats, poultry and seafood. It is actually a very small market, but check out their cheese selection!

While in the neighborhood, we would be shot if we didn't stop by Tartine Bakery. It was close to 3:30pm by this time - and we were both very stuffed, but we still managed to chow down their famous bread pudding and a cup of latte. The peaches are in-season and extra-delicious! I am not a big fan of bread pudding but this is indeed quite good. SQ loved it!!! Next time we have to come back on an empty stomach.

I wonder if we will skip dinner tonight, having eaten more than we can possibly eat? Chances are, probably not! We love food too much!

Others go out of town on the 4th. Others BBQ. Others go watch the Fireworks. For SQ and me, we chow down on the 4th!!

Academy of Sciences

Today SQ and I took advantage of Free Neighborhood Day and visited the new Academy of Sciences in GGP. We took our parents there. At first I was nervous whether my parents would enjoy these things and if the walking would be too much for my mom. But we took our time and took short breaks when we're tired. We ended up spending 4 hours there. We went through the aquarium, the rainforest, the living roof, saw the albino alligator and the penguins. We watched the show, Bugs in 3D. We had a great time and I enjoyed spending time with my parents.

The building is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, looking from the outside. I was also not so impressed with the Living roof, maybe because I've seen so much hype on TV about this "green roof." Anyhow, I still enjoyed the visit and do appreciate all the work the scientists are doing there to preserve our environment and to ensure the future generations can enjoy the same animals and plants we see today.